Indomethacin or aspirin for covid-19 cough?

Article written by Christine Clark

The similarities between the ACE-inhibitor cough and the cough of covid-19 prompted Dr Colin Brown, a retired GP and researcher, to investigate further.

“The ACEI cough is stopped by aspirin and indomethacin – so both drugs should also work in early covid-19 infection”, he explains. Rothstein and Leibowitz chose indomethacin for its suggested anti-coronaviral actions, and reported that it rapidly stopped Covid cough, relieved pain and improved well-being.¹ “It is a surprise that any NSAID would stop cough, and they also noted that ibuprofen did not do so”, he adds.

Reference

1. Rothstein R, Leibowitz J, Benjamin A, Clark C. Re: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and covid-19.  BMJ Rapid response  April 2020: www.bmj.com/content/368/bmj.m1185/rr-3

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